Alistair Roden

LEXINGTON, KY - The Fasig-Tipton October Yearlings Sale reached its halfway mark with a vibrant day of trade topped by a $550,000 son of Curlin who was one of the last horses through the ring Tuesday. "It was tremendous second session of the 2024 Kentucky October Yearling sale," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. "There was really spirited bidding from the very beginning of the sale to the very end of the sale. The level and consistency of the bidding throughout the day was truly encouraging." Through two sessions of...

The X-Ray Files series, now in its second year and presented in cooperation with the Consignors and Breeders Association, uses conversations with buyers and sellers to contribute to the discussion on the sales and training process. Veteran bloodstock agent Alistair Roden has found success buying for clients at all ranges of the market. Among his stakes-winning acquisitions already this year are Riley Allison Derby winner Lucky Jeremy (Lookin at Lucky) and Turfway Prevue S. winner Vote No (Divisidero), both of whom were purchased for $50,000 at last year's OBS June...

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis OCALA, FL - The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training completed its four-day run Friday with a  new record gross and average and a record-tying median in an auction which closely mirrored the 2022 renewal which set high-water marks for all of those metrics. Through four sessions, 698 horses grossed $90,805,000. A year ago, 705 horses grossed a record $90,723,000. The 2023 average of $129,907 was up fractionally from $128,685. The median remained unchanged at $65,000. "It was a great...

LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale, which began sluggishly Monday morning, built up steam throughout the day and ended with a trio of firework offerings and figures largely in line with the auction's 2022 renewal. "The beginning of the day was definitely slower than we probably expected," said Keeneland's Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy. "It was a little sluggish. But as the day went on, it became more promising." At the close of business Monday, 224 head had sold for $16,261,900. The average was...

OCALA, FL - Steady trade continued through the second session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company June Sale of 2-Year-Olds Thursday in Central Florida, with a filly by Nyquist bringing the day's top bid when selling for $420,000 to Gary Hartunian's Rockingham Ranch. The session-topping juvenile was consigned by Eddie Woods. "It was another good day," OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski said at the close of business Thursday. "We carried a lot of the momentum that we had yesterday into today and I think it will carry on through...

Bloodstock agent Alistair Roden has already found Canadian owner Terry Hamilton a pair of future graded stakes winners at bargain prices and he may have hit the trifecta following the smashing debut victory by Tobys Heart (Jack Milton) Thursday at Churchill Downs. Roden signed the ticket on future Grade I winner Heart to Heart (English Channel) for $25,348 at the 2012 Canadian Yearling Sale and Spooky Channel (English Channel), winner of the GIII W.L. McKnight S. in January, was a $10,000 purchase at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton October sale. The agent...

The Turf has no other odyssey quite like the one that ends at Churchill Downs. Where the Epsom original becomes ever less diverse, thanks to an inundation of two-bit speed in the European gene pool, the Kentucky Derby remains a faithful index of the grandeur and variegation of America's cultural self-image. From coast to coast, the thousands of potential winners who grazed their first spring pasture three years ago are now being winnowed down, trial by trial, to the 20 who finally share that momentous walk from the backside on...